Modeling and evaluation of attention allocation in an intelligent tractor head‐up display interface

Abstract

Tractors are becoming increasingly intelligent due to developments in electronics and information technology. Amid the large quantities of information in the driving cab, drivers may lack the attention resources demanded when operating, thus leading to neglect of important information. Therefore, the interface design stage must consider the human factors of the design. Designers must study and optimize the factors influencing attention allocation related to the interface design. In this study, the criticality of information is first proposed for quantifying the importance of various information in the display interface. Subsequently, the factors affecting attention allocation are investigated through experimental methods. Finally, a matching index is proposed to evaluate the interface design with respect to attention allocation. This enables the optimization of the interface design by matching attention allocation and criticality of the information. The matching index can thus serve as a design specification for tractor head-up display interfaces. K E Y W O R D S attention allocation, criticality of information, effort, eye-tracking, matching index 1 | INTRODUCTION Tractors are an important piece of agricultural machinery, with a wide variety of operating functions, such as sowing, and plowing, which improve agricultural productivity. The operating environment of tractors is complex, and the operating conditions poor. During busy seasons, the driver may work more than 10 hr every day. Consequently, tractor drivers experience a high labor intensity. Therefore, it is particularly important to consider ergonomic features during the tractor cab design stage, so that the designed cab can not only meet the operational requirements of the driver, but also enable the driver to operate efficiently and comfortably. The tractor display interface is the interactive interface between the driver and the tractor. It provides the driver with the required information, such as the internal parameters of the tractor, the position of the tractor, the status of the farm tools, and environmental conditions, among others. The tractor display interface is an extremely important part of the tractor cab. The design of the display interface determines the speed and accuracy at which the driver can perceive information. Due to recent improvements in agricultural machinery automation levels, large-wheeled tractors are becoming increasingly intelligent and electromechanically integrated. Driver tasks are shifting from solely operational to both operational and supervisory. At the same time, due to the development of automotive electronics, information, and other technologies, the amount of information that needs to be monitored simultaneously is gradually increasing. Since human attention resources are limited, drivers must reasonably allocate attention resources to deal with a variety of information. If gauges are amassed randomly, without any design specification during the display interface design stage, drivers can easily overlook key inf...